Reddie one-shots
by teej.318
Summary: A collection of Reddie one-shots I'm working on for Camp NaNoWriMo.
1. Flashback

Eddie stifled a yawn as he climbed into his sleeping bag, which was next to Richie. Richie had already crawled into his sleeping bag and was laying down with his arms under his head, looking at Eddie expectantly.

"What?" Eddie said defensively when he saw that Richie was watching him.

"Nothing, Eds," Richie replied with a grin. "Just waiting on you to come to sleep. This is a sleepover, after all."

"Yeah, I'm aware of that, 'Chee," Eddie said irritably as he threw his sleeping bag's blanket over himself and lay down. He turned to face Richie, who was grinning at him. "Something on your mind, Rich?"

Richie's face faltered slightly, but it quickly morphed into his usual smiling self.

"Nope, it's just been a while since we've had a sleepover with all The Losers like this. I've missed it, Eds."

"Well, thank goodness Bev is in town for a week then, otherwise we wouldn't have all been able to get together."

"Yeah," Richie said absently as he lay down properly in his sleeping bag and turned to face Eddie. "I'm glad that we're all here together. But I also miss just having sleepovers with just you, Eds."

"Don't call me that," Eddie said, grinning in spite of himself. "And yes, I miss our sleepovers, too. Maybe we can have one next week."

"I'd like that, Eddie Spaghetti. I know you need me to help protect you against the nightmares you always have."

"Oh, shut up, asshole!" Eddie snarled as he lightly slapped Richie on the arm. Richie feigned a severe injury, which caused Eddie to giggle.

"You slay me, Edward Spaghedward!"

"If you two don't shut the fuck up over there I'm going to come over and kick both of your asses," said Bev in a tired voice.

Richie and Eddie grinned at each other and silently chuckled before Richie shouted back at Bev.

"Sorry, Beverly, darling. We'll try to keep it down."

"You'd better unless you want a firm kick in the ass!"

"Come on, Beverly, you know only Eddie's mom is allowed to kick my ass. And I must say, it sure as hell turns me on."

"Beep, beep, fuckwad," said Stan irritably. "And go the fuck to sleep."

"Certainly, Staniel!" Richie said as he dramatically lay back down on his sleeping bag, turning to face Eddie again, who was grinning at him.

"Seriously, though, we probably should get some sleep," Eddie whispered. "Don't want to be tired all day tomorrow while we hang out."

"You got that right, Eds. I'll see you in the morning, my love."

"Shush!" Eddie said.

* * *

_"Oh fuck, Eddie!" Richie shouted as Eddie seemed to disappear in the floor. "Eddie! Where'd you go?"_

_"Now, now, Richie, you know the rules," said a terrifying voice that Richie recognized instantly. He shut his eyes in an attempt to convince himself that it was all fake. "You're not supposed to feel that way about the other boys. And what will happen when dear Eddie discovers your secret? He'll leave a disgusting faggot like you!"_

_"Fuck you, you piece of shit asshole clown! We killed you! You're not real! You're just in my head!"_

_"Maybe. But those feelings you have about Eddie are real and you know he'll leave you as soon as he finds out!"_

_"NO! Get out of my head! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"_

* * *

Richie woke up with a gasp and immediately sat up in his sleeping bag. He was breathing heavily and could feel sweat all over his face. He glanced around and saw that everyone else was still asleep, meaning he hadn't been yelling in his sleep like he thought he was. Sighing in relief, Richie shook himself out of his sleeping bag as quietly as he could and stood up, stretching. He tiptoed through the living room, avoiding stepping on any of friends, before he picked up his pace and walked into the kitchen. He turned on the light and reached into the cabinet for a glass. He filled the glass with water and gulped it down quickly before refilling the glass.

He sat down at the dining table as he tried to shake off the bad feeling the nightmare had given him. Richie closed his eyes and tried to focus on something else, but the nightmare was dominating his mind.

"Richie?" said a familiar voice.

Richie startled out of his daze, opening his eyes and glancing around. He calmed down when he saw Eddie standing in the kitchen doorway with a slight bed head.

"Hey, Eddie Spaghetti, what's up?" Richie said, trying to keep his nervousness out of his voice.

"I heard you get up and come in here. Are you okay, Richie?"

"Everything is just peachy keen, Eddie darling."

"Richie, please don't joke," Eddie said as he sat down at the dining table. "I can tell something is bothering you. Did you have a bad dream or something?"

"It's nothing, Eddie," Richie said, looking away from Eddie and staring at the glass of water in front of him.

"It can't be nothing, Richie. It's obviously bothering you. What happened?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Richie, come on," Eddie said as he reached across the table and grabbed onto one of Richie's hands. "You know you can tell me anything, Richie. I won't judge you."

Richie took a deep sigh.

"I keep having dreams about It," he whispered.

Eddie nodded at him. "That's not too surprising, Rich. I'm pretty sure we've all had bad dreams about It returning and trying to get us. But he's dead, Richie. He's gone."

"We don't know that for sure," Richie said quickly. "Anyway, it's not It that I'm scared of and what's bothering me."

"Then what is it?"

"Like I said, Eds, it doesn't matter."

"Richie, please just tell me. I want to know what's hurting or scaring you. I want to help you, Richie."

"I don't deserve your pity, Eddie."

"Why would you think that?"

Richie shook his head.

"You don't have to worry about it, Eddie. It's not your problem. It's mine."

"Richie, you can tell me. I promise you, it won't make me think badly about you, whatever it is. You can trust me, Richie. You know that."

Richie took a deep breath before he finally looked Eddie in the eyes. When he did, he saw Eddie's eyes were full of something, certainly nothing negative. If he weren't mistaken, Richie would say that Eddie's eyes looked full of love, but he shook that thought off.

"I keep hearing It talk about my biggest fear," Richie said lowly. "And it's not clowns, not really, Eds. It's you leaving me."

"Rich, I would never-"

"Wait, there's more," Richie said, cutting Eddie off. Eddie just nodded at him and squeezed Richie's hand a little tighter. "I'm scared of you leaving me because of the way I feel about you." Richie hesitated. "I like you, Eddie. I like you a lot. I can't stop thinking about you and the only thing I care about is making sure that you're safe and happy. I know that probably sounds super weird, but it's true, Eddie. I don't know what it is, but I just want to protect you, Eddie, and make you happy and make you forget all the bad things that have happened to you.

"I think I love you, Eddie. And I'm sorry if you don't want that and it's okay if you don't feel the same way."

"Richie," Eddie whispered. Richie stopped talking and looked deeply into Eddie's eyes again as Eddie leaned forward and kissed him. Richie was taken aback by Eddie's sudden movement but couldn't, no wouldn't, find it in himself to pull away. Eddie Kapsbrak, _his_ Eddie Kaspbrak was kissing him. This couldn't be real life.

"_But it is real life_," said a voice in his head.

Richie ignored the voice and kept kissing Eddie, who seemed to melt into the kiss. They cupped each other's cheeks as they kept kissing. Finally, they pulled apart. Richie simply stared at Eddie in shock. Eddie was smiling shyly at him.

"What was that?" Richie asked.

"It was a kiss, dumbass," Eddie replied, rolling his eyes.

"But why?"

"Richie are you actually asking me that?" Richie nodded. "Because I love you, too, Richie."

"You do?"

"Yes! I thought you knew how I felt about you! I only call you names and act like I'm annoyed with you because I want you to notice me, 'Chee. I love it when you call me Eds or Eddie Spaghetti or any other goofy name you call me. And I love it when you make me laugh and when you hold my hand and when you hug me, and, fuck it, I love everything about you, Richie. I love you."

Richie stared at Eddie in shock for several seconds.

"Thank god," he muttered as he leaned forward and pulled Eddie into another kiss.

They kissed for several moments before they pulled apart again, both of them blushing profusely.

"Are you okay now?" Eddie asked quietly. Richie nodded. "We should probably go back to sleep, 'Chee."

"Okay, Eds," Richie said as he drank the rest of his water and stood up with Eddie, who pulled Richie's hand out of the kitchen and through the living room. Eddie lay back down in his sleeping bag and Richie did, too. They scooted closer to each other so they could hold hands.

"I'll be here when you wake up, Richie. I promise."

"I know. I think I'll be okay now."

"You will be, 'Chee," Eddie said as he leaned forward and gave Richie a kiss on the forehead. Richie closed his eyes after Eddie's kiss and his body visibly relaxed. "I love you, Richie."

"I love you, too, Eds."


	2. Braces

Richie startled when he felt a pair of hands grab his shoulders. He whipped around, his backpack sliding partway into his locker. Eddie was standing behind him with an amused expression on his face. Richie grinned at him without revealing his new look.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Eddie asked as Richie pulled him into a one-armed hug.

"'m fine, Eds," Richie replied, barely opening his mouth.

"Well let's see your new look!"

"Later, Eds," Richie said quietly, still not completely opening his mouth. "I don't wanna have to keep showing it off to everyone. Can we just wait a day or two?"

Eddie scoffed.

"I mean, I guess so, Richie, but you're gonna have those braces on for two years, so it's gonna be hard for people not to notice."

"Ugh, don't remind me."

Richie closed his locker door and followed Eddie to the rest of The Losers, who had gathered at Bill's locker.

"Hey, let's see the new look!" Mike exclaimed.

"Yeah, show us your new smile!" added Bev.

Richie kept his mouth shut and just grinned stupidly at his friends.

"Come on, Richie, let's see it," Ben begged.

"Y-y-yeah you prob-probably don't look that d-d-d-different," said Bill.

Richie shrugged.

"Richie, you know we're not gonna judge you, right?" Bev asked.

"I might," said Stan. Richie grinned at him, but kept his mouth shut. "Wow, no comeback, Richie? You must really not want us to see your braces, huh?"

Richie nodded.

"That's right," he said, barely moving his lips.

"What was that?" Stan asked. "I could barely understand you."

"Hey, leave him alone, Stan," Ben said. "Richie doesn't have to show us his braces until he wants to."

"Besides, he's stuck with them for a while, so he'll have to show us eventually!" Bev exclaimed.

Richie rolled his eyes, but nodded at his friends.

And so it continued for the rest of the day. Richie refused to speak more than a few words at a time and he never opened his mouth all the way. He also hardly smiled throughout the day, instead grinning with his lips closed. He certainly didn't laugh, either. And at lunch, he tried to hide his face while he was eating. It was as if a switch had been turned off in him. It was worrying all of his friends, but none more than Eddie.

Shortly after getting home, Eddie decided to go and visit Richie once he was done with his homework. He suffered through writing his English essay and answering textbook questions for his history class before he decided to call it quits and go see what was going on with Richie. Eddie hurried down the stairs and had his hand on the doorknob when his mother called out to him.

"Eddie bear, where are you going?" Sonia asked.

Eddie grimaced when he heard her voice.

"I'm going out for a bit, Mom," he replied, trying to keep his voice as even as possible. "I'm just gonna go see a friend."

"What about your homework? And what about your dinner? You must be starving, Eddie."

"I'm okay, Mom. I had a big lunch. Besides, I'm all done with my homework. If I get hungry, I'll come home and get a bite to eat, all right?"

"Eddie bear, I don't like you going out on an empty stomach."

"Bye, Mom," Eddie said loudly as he opened the door and hurried through it before his mother could say anything else. He shut the door behind him and locked it. He knew he was going to have to pay for walking out like that, but he didn't care. His primary concern was Richie.

Eddie grabbed his bike and started pedaling to Richie's house. They lived rather close to each other and he knew the route by heart; he had been taking it to go visit Richie ever since they were little kids. The journey seemed to take longer because of how worried Eddie was for Richie, but he finally got to Richie's house.

Eddie knocked on the front door and waited impatiently for someone to answer. Soon, Richie's mother appeared in the doorway and opened the door.

"Hi there, Eddie," she said warmly. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good, Mrs. Tozier," Eddie replied, giving her a smile. "I was hoping I could see Richie if he's not still doing his homework."

"Well, he might not be done, but a visit from a friend couldn't hurt. Come on in."

Maggie showed Eddie inside and Eddie hurried in, wiping his shoes on the mat for several seconds before he followed Maggie into the living room.

"How's he doing?" Eddie asked.

"What do you mean, Eddie?"

"Richie. Is he doing okay?"

"Why? Did something happen at school today? Were those boys picking on him again?"

"No, no, nothing like that. He just seemed really quiet at school today, which isn't like him at all," Eddie said hurriedly.

Maggie frowned at him.

"He seemed totally normal when he came home. Maybe he was just tired today."

Eddie nodded. "Yeah that's probably it. I'll go up and see him. Thanks for letting me come by, Mrs. Tozier."

"You're always welcome in this home, Eddie dear. And for heaven's sake, call me Maggie!"

Eddie just grinned as he turned and walked up the stairs. He was drawn to Richie's room like a magnet and reached it in seconds when he got to the top floor. Eddie took a breath before he knocked softly on Richie's bedroom door.

"Richie, it's Eddie, can I come in?"

"Sure, Eds," Richie replied in his usual tone of voice.

Eddie's mood lifted a bit when he heard Richie speak. Maybe it was a sign that he was okay. Eddie opened the door and walked into Richie's room. Richie didn't keep his room nice and meticulate the way Eddie did, but Eddie didn't mind. In fact, he wished he could be more like Richie in this sense; a little organized chaos would be a nice change of pace.

Richie was sitting on his bed reading a comic book. Eddie sat down next to him. Once on the bed, Richie finally looked up and grinned at Eddie, but his lips were still closed. Eddie had to suppress a sigh of exasperation.

"What's up, Eddie Spaghetti?" Richie asked, barely moving his lips just like he had throughout the day.

"I'm just checking up on you, Rich. Are you okay?"

"I'm just fine, Eds. Everything is A-ok."

"Then why didn't you laugh at all today?" Eddie asked. Richie froze. "Why didn't you smile normally at anything? Why weren't you cracking jokes at every opportunity even though they drive me crazy? What is going on, Richie? Are you okay?"

Richie sighed as he threw the comic book to the side. He sat up and looked directly into Eddie's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Eds," Richie said quietly, still not moving his lips. "I just don't want you to see."

"See what?"

"How much uglier I am now."

Eddie's eyes widened in shock.

"What are you talking about, 'Chee?"

"I look like total shit now, Eds. I mean, hell, I wasn't much to look at before, but these braces just made me even uglier. I don't want anyone else to have to see that."

Eddie was sure he could feel his heart breaking as Richie said all of that. He just wanted to hold his best friend in his arms and take those negative thoughts out of him. Instead, he grabbed onto one of Richie's wrists.

"Oh, Richie, please don't talk about yourself like that," he said softly.

"Why not? It's the truth! Richie Tozier is a hideous, ugly beast. I'm the only one who has to see that, Eddie. You and the rest of The Losers don't have to."

"Richie, please," Eddie begged, grabbing onto Richie's other wrist. "Stop talking about yourself like that. You're not ugly, Richie."

Richie scoffed.

"You're just saying that because I'm your best friend, Eds. But it's okay, you don't have to mean it."

"But I do mean it, Richie -"

"Please, stop humoring me, Eds."

"I'm not-"

"Why can't you just let me be ugly in peace?"

"BECAUSE I THINK YOU'RE FUCKING BEAUTIFUL, ALL RIGHT?" Eddie shouted. His eyes widened again when he realized how loudly he had just talked, but it was nowhere near as shocked as Richie looked.

"What are you talking about, Eddie?" Richie asked, frowning at Eddie.

"I think you're beautiful, Richie," Eddie said. Richie rolled his eyes and Eddie tightened his grip on Richie's wrist. "Hey, I mean it."

"Why? I'm so horrifyingly ugly, Eddie. There are a whole lot more people better looking than me."

"Not to me and if you don't stop talking about yourself like that, I'm gonna give you a black eye."

Richie smiled, parting his lips ever so slightly, but not enough for Eddie's liking.

"Eddie, you're on fire tonight."

"Shut up and just let me talk to you for a second," Eddie commanded. Richie nodded. "Now listen to me, Richie. You are beautiful. I don't care if your glasses make your eyes look bigger or that your hair kinda gets all over the place or anything else you think is wrong with you. Those things you tell yourself are flaws aren't flaws, Rich. They are the things that make you who you are."

Richie frowned slightly, but he seemed to be taking in Eddie's words.

"And I promise you the rest of The Losers don't think you're ugly, Richie," Eddie said. "That's just a nasty voice in your head telling you that, Richie, but it's not true. You are a beautiful person, Richie, inside and out. I've always loved that about you. And you know what your favorite part about you is, besides you being my best friend?"

Richie shook his head.

"It's your smile," Eddie said as he gave Richie a smile of his own. "I've always loved your smile, Richie. You always light up the room whenever you smile and when I see you smile, I want to smile, too. I love your smile so much, Richie."

"Wow, I didn't think anyone did," Richie said quietly.

"It's my favorite thing to see you do," Eddie said. "And I'd really like to see it. Can you do that for me, Richie? Ignore that bad voice in your head and remember that you are beautiful. Can you smile for me, Richie?"

Richie hesitated before his mouth twitched and it grew into a large smile. Eddie felt his heart melt at seeing Richie's full smile again. The braces had a tint of green in them and it suited Richie, Eddie thought. Eddie beamed at Richie.

"Oh, Richie," Eddie said. "It's so beautiful. Your smile is so beautiful. _You_ are so beautiful."

Eddie leaned forward and pulled Richie into a hug, wrapping his arms tightly around Richie. Richie was taken aback by this, but wrapped his arms around Eddie, too. Richie could feel tears prickling in his eyes, but they were the good kind. He had never felt this way about himself before and it was all thanks to Eddie.

"Thank you so much, Eds," Richie whispered into Eddie's shoulder.

"Of course, Richie. I missed your smile today. I missed _you_ today. You never have to hide yourself from me or the rest of The Losers, okay?"

Richie nodded as he melted even more into Eddie's embrace.

"I love you, Eddie Spaghetti."

"I love you, too, 'Chee."


End file.
